Mr Hire's Engagement

By: Georges Simenon

Narrated by: Andrew Wincott

Georges Simenon's chilling portrayal of tragic love, persecution and betrayal.

'One sensed in him neither flesh nor bone, nothing but soft, flaccid matter, so much so that his movements were hard to make out. Very red lips stood out from his orb-like face, as did the thin moustache that he curled with an iron and that looked as if it had been drawn on with India ink; on his cheekbones were the symmetrical pink dots of a doll's cheeks.'

People find Mr Hire strange, disconcerting. The tenants he shares his building with try to avoid him. He is a Peeping Tom, a visitor of prostitutes, a dealer in unsavoury literature. He is also the prime suspect for a brutal murder that he did not commit. Yet Mr Hire's innocence will not stand in the way of those looking for a scapegoat as tragedy unfolds in this quietly devastating and deeply unnerving audiobook.

©2016 Georges Simenon (P)2016 Audible, Ltd.

Intense and agitating

I read all of Simenon’s Maigret books, and this one had a very different style. Not easy to form a “picture” with the narratives on surrounding backgrounds.
The “flow” was not smooth as well.
Hence the overall feeling of intense and agitating.

Mr.Hire's Engagement- A Tale Of Catching The Wrong Man

I very much enjoyed this particular title! Mr.Wincott's voice is, of course, always a pleasant thing to listen to. The story was captivating as it illustrated how Mr.Hire tried to lay low until the truth got out; However, the ending leaves some questions unanswered- Was Alice in on framing Mr.Hire? Did they ever catch her boyfriend? How did he manage to get the handbag in his apartment to frame him to begin with? It would have been nice to have a little more fleshing out in the conclusion, but overall a fascinating story nonetheless.

not a mystert. not even a good story.

Very strange story. not a mystery. read like some existential angst story. at the end, it's still not clear what happend. Maigret doesn't make an appearance.